Shadow Snake
by Sylene Bloodrose
Summary: it's Tiffany Caraway's first Year at Hogwarts, and is exited to learn as much as she can. But when a strange shadow starts appearing at night and causing problems. It soon becomes clear that it has it out for the young girl. Can Tiffany and her friends discover the truth behind the shadow before it's to late.
1. Departure and arrival

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter of any of its characters, J. k. Rowling does. Only my ideas and OC'S.

Author's note: this is my first Harry potter fanfiction, so not everything will be right, but just go with it. I know that the first year of Harry potter takes place in 1991, but for this story, it's going to take place in 2004. So instead of being born in 1980, Harry, Ron and the rest will instead be born in 1993. I have a reason for making that chance. One more thing, like I said before this is my first time writing HP so a few characters might not be completely in character at first. The more I write this the better of a feel I'll have for them. If someone is too far out of character then let me know and I'll fix it. That's all I wanted to say so on with the story.

~1~

The sound of the train's whistle pulled Tiffany from her thoughts. Her head is currently resting against the cool glass of the window. She had gotten on the train early so it was easy finding an empty compartment. Tiffany's mother had made sure they got there a few minutes early to avoid the large crowd that would be there. The girl's father hadn't been able to make it. He had been called to work at the last second. He had to fill in for a co-worker who had called in sick.

Almost everyone was on the train now, as the whistle signaled the soon departure of the Hogwarts Express. Tiffany Caraway was an 11 year old witch about to go to her first year of Hogwarts. Her waist length dark brown was brushed from her face and had been braided. A small pink bow held her thin hair together at the end. Sitting beside her was a small girl with short blonde hair and big blue eyes. Her name was Holly Solomons and the two had been BFFs sense they first met in kindergarten. And sitting across from them looking as though she was bored to tears was Tiffany's cousin, Jessica Melendez.

Jessica wasn't an easy person to deal with, though having grown up with her Tiffany had long figured out how to handle her. Sadly Holly didn't know her as well. The two didn't get along very well which would make things hard on Tiffany when having to listen to her best friend and cousin argue. Luckily they weren't speaking to each other at the moment, so no harm done. Unlike Tiffany and Holly, who both had pale complexions, Jessica has a darker skin tone with black hair and dark eyes. Jessica was looking out the window, looking restless. Holly was reading a fantasy book that she had brought with her to read.

Holly was the only one out of the three that wore glasses. Tiffany used to wear glasses to, but she no longer needed them. The brown haired girl looked into the window reflection of her own hazel eyes. She planned on sleeping most of the way there. That's what she usually did on long rides. Then the door to their compartment sled open and a girl that looked the same age as them poked her head through. She had bushy brown hair and brown eyes. "Do you mind if I sit with you, the rest of the train is already full?"

"Sure we don't mind," Tiffany said at the same time as Holly. The bushy haired girl sat down next to Jessica who was zoned out, paying no attention. "My name is Hermione Granger, what are your names." They each introduced themselves, even Jessica who looked away from the window long enough to answer. Hermione then seemed to notice the book in Holly's hand for the next thing she said was. "I know that book; I read the whole series last year in primary school. It's a good series." Holly seemed to perk up at that. Holly never really had anyone to talk to about the books she read.

Tiffany did love to read as well, but she just wasn't as strong as a reader as Holly was. "I know right, I brought the whole series with me. I promised Tiffany that she could read them when I'm done." Hermione nodded her head as if in approval. The train had already started moving, leaving behind the sight of parents waving their kids goodbye. For a while, Holly and Hermione talked about different books that they've read and ones that they both have read. Jessica didn't like reading, so she remained silent through the whole conversation. Tiffany on the other hand would bring up a book or two once and while. But mainly just listened to the two other girls talk.

Tiffany had never been one to talk a lot. She had always preferred to Liston to other people talk then being part of the conversation herself. At one point Hermione changed the topic when she said, "You know I really hope I get sorted into Gryffindor. I read that's it's the house of bravery and courage. I would love to be in that house." Tiffany knew that if Jessica hadn't already fallen asleep on the window, she would have made a smart mouth remark. "So what house do you want to be in?"

Tiffany really didn't care, as long as she was at Hogwarts, she couldn't care less about what house she was in. "I've got family in different houses so I don't really care." The bushy haired girl nodded her head in understanding, and then looked at Holly for her answer. Unlike Tiffany, Holly had an idea of what house she might want to be in. "I'm thinking about Ravenclaw. But it doesn't really matter." The three, four if you count the still asleep Jessica, sat in silence for a while after that. Then Hermione broke the silence. "You know, neither of my parents are magical, I'm the only witch in my family." Tiffany heard the pride in the girl's voice. She then looked over at her BFF. Holly knew exactly how Hermione felt.

"Me to, we have so much in common." Holly replied at bit loudly. Even though they had just met, Tiffany could tell that her best friend already seemed to have more in common with this new girl then herself. And that thought made a small seed of jealousy to take form. Holly was her friend first. Then Hermione's attention shifted back to Tiffany. "You mentioned that you have family in different houses, I would like to know more about that." A small part in the back of Tiffany's mind told her it was none of the girl's business. But the brown haired girl bushed the away easily. It was just harmless curiosity. It wasn't like it was a secret of anything.

"I have two older sisters who have already graduated from Hogwarts. Their names are Christina and Jennifer. Christina was in Gryffindor and Jennifer was in Hufflepuff. My cousin Jessica over there also has two sisters, though their still in school. Ashley's a 4th year Ravenclaw and Jamila is a 7th year Hufflepuff. All we need now is for someone to be in Slytherin and my family with have someone in every house. It's kind of funny if you think about."

Hermione nodded her head, bushy hair flying everywhere in the process. Not long after that, Tiffany opened her purple book bag and pulled out a bag of cheesepuffs. "Who wants some?" Holly eagerly put her hand into the now open bag and got herself a handful. Tiffany held the bag out to Hermione who got a few. The bushy haired girl then looked at the sleeping girl next to her. "Should we wake her up and see if she might want some?" Hermione asked, looking between Jessica and Tiffany. "No she's good. Jessica gets bored to easy. As long as she's asleep, we won't have to deal with her or her attitude. This has been a good ride so far, I don't want her ruining it." Hermione seemed taken aback by that but let the subject go.

Just then a lady pushing a snack cart past by and they each got a few things. The rest of the ride went just as smoothly. Tiffany hadn't realized that she had dosed off until she felt a hand shaking her shoulder. Blinking her eyes a few times, the brown haired girl had to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Yawning and stretching in the process. "We'll be there soon; you should change into your uniform." Hermione said, already in her school clothes. Tiffany looked at Holly and saw that she too had already changed. She had before been wearing a short sleeved pink shirt with a flower design as well as a pair of pants that was a darker shade of pink then her shirt. Holly had always wore pink, even if Primary school.

It was then that she noticed that Jessica was gone. She most have woken up. Tiffany was pulled out of her thoughts when the compartment door opened and Jessica walked back in, wearing her school robes as well. Once Jessica was seated, Tiffany grabbed her bag which had her uniform in it and headed for the train's bathroom. After relieving herself, the brown haired girl changed into her uniform. She had been wearing a white sleeveless shirt that had a purple crop-jacket attached to it as well as a matching purple ruffled skirt. Before leaving the restroom, Tiffany washed her hands and checked her reflection in the mirror one last time. She had a round face, not from fat though, she just had baby cheeks.

A small beauty mark could be seen above the right corner of her tip. And then there were her eyebrows. Her eyebrows had always been thin, to the point of being hard to notice. She had been asked by a lot of people before if she plucked her brows, but she had never done that. They were naturally that thin. Which were the opposite of Holly's thick blonde ones.

It wasn't long after Tiffany returned to the compartment that the train started to slow down. Once the train had completely stopped a large bearded man called for the first years to fallow him. The man looked like a giant, Tiffany had never seen anyone so ginormous before. Even though the man had a friendly demeanor around him, she was still uneasy around someone so big. Once off the train the four girls fallowed the rest of the first years to a set of boats that would take them across the lake to the large castle. Tiffany's mother and two sisters had told her so much about the school, but to see it in person was something she would never forget. A look of astonishment was on the other three girl's faces as well. Holly, Jessica, Tiffany, and Hermione all got in the same boat. Once everyone had gotten into in to one of the boats, they started to move towards the castle on their own.

It was going to be a good year, Tiffany could feel it. It was the first year of a new school and she was determined to reinvent herself. She refused to remain the shy wallflower she had been throughout primary school, and sense no one, except for her friend Holly, and cousin, no one knew who she was. She could be anyone or anything. The thought had Tiffany exited. She was going to show her true self and not care what people thought. Well she hoped so anyway. Once everyone was off the boats, the bearded man led the first years into an oak door. They were met at the door by a tall woman with black hair wearing green robes. After the man left the woman led them in.

The woman then led them form the entrance hall to a small chamber to the side. Tiffany wasn't bothered by this at all. She had heard plenty from her sisters and cousins to know that they would be soon guided into the great hall to be sorted. And Though Tiffany had said before that she didn't care what house she would be sorted into, she couldn't help but be anxious. With all of the first years in the smaller room, the woman faced the group of children and said. "I am Professor McGonagall and welcome to Hogwarts."

~1~

Author's note: well that's chapter 1, I hoped you like my first HP fanfic. The next chapters should be longer. I'll start working on the other chapters soon, so I hope you liked how I started it. I hope you give my story a chance and leave a review so that I'll know what to improve on in later chapters. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a good day, or night, depending on what time it is when you read this. Later.


	2. house sorting and making new friends

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter of any of its characters, J. k. Rowling does. Only my ideas and OC'S.

Author's note: like I said in chapter 1, this is my first HP fanfic, so if you see anyone out of character, just let me know and I'll work on fixing it in other chapters.

~2~

 _A little girl sat on a wooden stool, her short legs dangling in the air about a foot above the floor. She appeared to be either 6 or 7 years old. Dark brown hair framed her face and flowed down her back. The child was currently in the kitchen, sitting on the stool her father had made the day before. Her father had a shed in the backyard that he used as his workshop. The little girl knew that she wasn't allowed inside there unless her father was outside with her. She understood why, with all the wood, nails, and power tools, it wasn't safe for her to be messing with stuff. It was in the shed that her father had made the stool she now sat on._

 _He had put a lot of effort into it, like everything he did. The quality of said stool was so good that anyone who didn't already know that Woodrow had made it himself would have thought he had bought it at the store. Woodrow, the girl's father, had made many things from his work shop, including the dog house and the beautiful jewelry box he had made for his wife as a Christmas present last year._

 _The light brown colored stool was pushed up to the island counter, the child sitting completely still as she watched her father chop and deice vegetables that would be put into the pot on the stove. No one could deny the fact the Tiffany loved watching her father cook. He was an excellent cook who even worked as a chief at a nearby restaurant. The child would watch his every move as he attended to his food, soaking up everything he said like a sponge._

 _Due to there being no children her age where they lived, Tiffany would most often be alone, either in her room playing with the Barbies the one of her sisters had given her when they had outgrown them, or outside on the swing set. Even though she did have four older sisters, two of them spent most of the year at Hogwarts; the only time she got to see them was during the summer. And even then, they didn't spend much time with her. The other two were already grown and out of the house. The only friends she had were at school, but she never saw them outside of school. This led Tiffany to spend time in the kitchen watching her father as he cooked. At first he had tried to make her wait in the living room until supper was ready, but he soon realized it was useless so he gave up and allowed her to watch him._

 _She loved and admired her father so much; Tiffany wanted to be just like him. As she grew older, her father would allow her to help him, with adult supervision of course. It was during these times of bonding that the child discovered a love for cooking._

 _~2~_

After Professor McGonagall explained the importance of the sorting, and what the four houses were, the woman left, giving them time to make sure they looked presentable before the sorting began. The room had grown silent as everyone seemed nervous about the sorting. Well except for Tiffany anyway. Her sisters may like to pick at her, but they would never worry her for any reason. They had explained the whole sorting hat long ago, when she had asked how they ended up there school house. The brown haired girl looked over at Holly, Jessica and Hermione, who were close to her, and said. "You know, I don't know why everyone's so nervous, hasn't anyone already told them that they only put a hat on top of your head to sort you into a house. I mean really, it's not anything major." Jessica nodded her head in agreement; her own sisters had explain the whole situation to her as well.

A look of disapoinment flashed across Hermione's face. "Really? That's it?" Tiffany had to refrain from rolling her hazel eyes. "Well yea, it's just a sorting, not a test. What would they expect a bunch of newbies to do anyway?"

"Are you serious? My brother told me we had to wrestle a troll." Tiffany looked to who had spoken; it was a boy with red hair and freckles on his face. "Trust me it's just a hat, my sisters know what they're talking about. Besides, a troll, seriously, trusty me man, your brother is messing with you." The red headed boy seemed relieved at that, even the dark haired kid next to him looked slightly relieved.

Not long after that a bunch of ghosts drifted through the wall into the room. It freaked a lot of the children out, even Holly. Tiffany had to cover the blonde's mouth to keep her from squealing. Even Jessica seemed startled for a moment, which was an accomplishment of itself. That girl was usually bored out of her mind; it was good to see her interested in something for once. Even if it was the ghosts that seemed to be having a conversation over their heads. Soon enough, Professor McGonagall came back and shoed the ghosts away. After making everyone get into a straight line, she led them into the great hall.

The great hall had four long tabled filled with students, each on belonged to one of the four houses. As they were led to the front of the room, Tiffany noticed her cousin Jamila sitting at one of the tables and knew it had to be the Hufflepuff table. Once the first years stopped were they were supposed to, McGonagall sat a stool in front of them, and then a old pointed hat on top of the stool. The stool wasn't as nice as the ones her father made in her work shop, the thought crossed Tiffany's mind before she realized it. After the hat had come to life and sang, McGonagall stepped forward with a scroll in her hands. "When I call your name, place the hat on your head and sit down on the stool to be sorted.

It seemed that their names had been put in alphabetical order through their last names. The sorting started with those whose last names started with an 'A'. It didn't take long for the professor to let to Tiffany's name.

"Caraway, Tiffany."

Tiffany walked over to the stool, picked the hat up and placed in on her small head and sat down. The hat fell over her eyes, blocking her sight. This freaked the girl out, she was scared of the dark and not being able to see wasn't helping. Then the girl heard a voice inside her head. "Hmm, I see much talent. So much talent you haven't had a change to explore." To say that Tiffany was started would be an understatement. She had no idea how she was supposed to respond the hat now talking to her. But she didn't have to for it continued to speak. "I see much self-doubt, in the right environment you could grow to do amazing things. I can see you desire to prove yourself to everyone, and a good might to do it with. You just need a push in the right direction."

As the hat spoke, it felt as though it was looking into her very soul. It was disturbing how the hat on her head knew so much about her. It was starting to make the young girl uncomfortable. Then the hat said, "I wander where I should put you?" Tiffany shrugged her small shoulders, like she had said before, she wasn't picky. It was then that she finally responded to the hat. In her head she thought, _'it doesn't matter, I'll be happy no matter what house I'm in.'_ That seemed to make the hat laugh. "That's good spirit, how about Slytherin." Even though she had of course heard about the house's reputation, Tiffany couldn't be bothered to care. 'That sounds good, I'll go with that.' It was right after she thought that, that the hat on top of her head shouted out, "SLYTHERIN!"

Tiffany stood up and sat the hat back down, then walked over to the cheering Slytherin table. She waived at Holly as she did, her BFF waiving back. The brown haired girl sat down with the other newly sorted Slytherins. Then another name was called and the sorting continued. It was kind of boring actually, having to sit there while everyone had their name called. Soon after though, Hermione's name was called and she was placed in Gryffindor like she had wanted. After Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table, Tiffany zoned out, to bored to pay attention to use was being sorted were. It just seemed to go on and on, though it was mostly just her 11 year old attention span working against her.

She snapped out of her thoughts just in time to see a pair of identical twins be sorted. The first one out of the two to be called up was Andrew Macarthur. The only thing Tiffany could tell about his appearance from where she was, was that he had short black hair. The 11 year old boy was quickly sorted into Gryffindor. The other twin was named Xander Macarthur. He seemed more nervous than his brother, for he approached the stool a little slower than his brother did. His sorting took a little longer then Andrew's did. But in the end, the sorting hat yelled out 'Slytherin' and the dark haired boy walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down next to Tiffany. Now sitting next to her, Tiffany could now see that Xander had blue eyes that reminded her of the sky during a cloudless day.

Looking at the boy next to her, Tiffany wanted to say hi but her throat closed up on her. Stupid shyness getting in the way. No, she had deicide that she was going to move past that, so choking down her nerves, Tiffany spoke to Xander. "Hey," it was only one word and sounded award, but it got the job done. The boy turned his blue eyes to her hazel ones and responded, "Hey, nice to meet you." Surprisingly enough, he sounded nervous himself, that made Tiffany feel a little better. Xander held his hand out and continued to speak, "I'm Xander," Tiffany shook her hand and replied, "And I'm Tiffany, it's nice to meet you to." Just then Tiffany noticed a boy with pale blonde hair strutting over to the Slytherin table, a smug look on his face as he sat down. The brown haired girl hadn't been paying attention to who had just been sorted, so she missed his name.

There were a few more people sorted before Tiffany heard her cousin's name be called.

"Melendez, Jessica." Tiffany watched the darker skinned girl walk up to the stool and put the hat on as she sat down. Just like it had done for herself and many others, the sorting hat fell over Jessica's eyes. Tiffany was genially interested to see where her cousin would be place. A part of her hoped that she would be placed in the same house as herself, but another part didn't. They got along great if they were around each other for only a few days. But if the two spent too much time together, then they would end up at each other's throats, it was always like that. Sure enough Jessica was also placed into Slytherin. She then sat down in front of Tiffany.

Tiffany then zoned out again, chatting with Xander and Jessica occasionally. It was only when she heard professor McGonagall call out, "Solomons, Holly," that Tiffany once more became interested in the sorting. Her BFF excitedly hurried to the stool to be sorted. The brown haired girl couldn't help but small at her best friend's excitement. The blonde 11 year old was sorted into Ravenclaw. As Holly was taking her seat at her table, she Saw Tiffany at her own table and waved over at her. Tiffany didn't hesitate to wave back at the blonde. This got Tiffany some strange looks from her own table, but she wasn't paying any attention, so she didn't notice. Later on some boy named Harry was sorted into Gryffindor. The name sounded familiar, but Tiffany couldn't remember where she heard it before.

The red headed boy, who Tiffany now knew was named Ron Weasley, was also sorted into Gryffindor. Once the sorting was finished, McGonagall rolled up the scroll, picked up the stool and the sorting hat and left. Then Dumbledore stood up from the teacher's table and greeted everyone to a new school year. The food appeared on the plates once he was finished speaking. There were lots of good food, it was hard for Tiffany to decide what she wanted. As she ate, she continued so speak with Jessica and Xander, but never with her mouth open, that was just bad table manners. What had started off as an award greeting from before was now a friendly conversation. Xander seemed like a nice person, someone who Tiffany could see herself being friends with.

When the dessert appeared, Tiffany just got herself some mint-chocolate chip ice cream and a brownie. She was so full from the meal to eat too many sweets. After the sweets vanished as well Dumbledore spoke once more, this time explaining that the forbidden forest was off-limits to all students. Though that should have been obvious, why wouldn't a forest that was called the 'forbidden' forest be off-limits? It seemed very self explanatory to Tiffany anyway. He also mentioned that there is to be no magic in the corridors and how the third flow corridor is off-limits as well. Tiffany didn't question it; she knew they had a good reason for it. After singing the school song, Tiffany and the rest of the Slytherin first years followed the Slytherin perfect down into the dungeons. The perfect, whose name Tiffany didn't know, spoke the password in front of a stretch of damp stone wall. Once this was done, a hidden rectangular doorway appeared.

They all fallowed the older boy into the common room, were he gave them an intreduction and explained how the password to enter the common room would change every fortnight and that they should keep an eye on the notice board. They were then dismissed to go to bed. Once in the girl's dormitory, Tiffany saw that the beds were ancient four-poster beds with green silk hangings, and bedspreads embroidered with silver thread. Silver lanterns hung from the ceilings, it was very nice in here. Tiffany found the bed with her trunk in front of it. Once she changed into her favorite purple PJ's, she pulled out a white unicorn plushy that she had gotten when she was little. The stuffed animal was called Rainbow, and Tiffany would sleep with it every night. There was no way she was going to leave home without her rainbow-baby.

The brown haired girl got into her bed and laid underneath her sheet and comforter. She laid there for a good twenty minutes, the stuffed unicorn held to her chest, before she finally fell asleep. The first day at Hogwarts had ended, and it could only get better.

~2~

Well that was chapter 2, I hoped you like it. If you noticed, it the flashback in the beginning of this chapter, it mentions Tiffany having 4 sisters, even though she only told Hermione about 2 sisters having gone to Hogwarts in the last chapter. There's a reason for that and you'll find out soon enough. I also forgot to mention that Tiffany didn't notice Hermione's know-it-all attitude because she is so used to dealing with it from Holly that it didn't register. With everyone sorted, it's time for the fun to begin. Thank you for reading and please leave a review so I know what to improve on for the next chapter. Later.


	3. classes

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter of any of its characters, J. k. Rowling does. Only my ideas and OC'S.

Author's note: like I said in chapter 1, this is my first HP fanfic, so if you see anyone out of character, just let me know and I'll work on fixing it in other chapters.

~3~

 _To say that Karen Caraway was made would have been an understatement. The black haired woman was absolutely furious. A vein had been throbbing in her temple for the past 5 minutes. Karen's sister, Brenda, had gone shopping with their mother about half an hour ago. Leaving the woman alone to watch over the two eight year olds. One being her youngest daughter, Tiffany, and the other, her youngest niece, Jessica. It was currently Saturday afternoon, and Karen and her daughter were spending the weekend at her mother's place. The two would visit every weekend. Once in a while Woody, what's what everyone called Woodrow, would go with them. But he didn't like to go over to his mother-in-law's house, saying that it smelled too much of cat urine. Not that Karen could blame him, her mother had a lot of cats and the house did have a constant smell of ammonia wherever you went._

 _Brenda, Karen's sister lives with their mom with her three daughters, two of which were of a Hogwarts right now along with Karen's step-daughter Christina. Jennifer, who has Tiffany's elder half sister from her side of the family, had graduated 2 years ago and was off studying medicine._

 _Still looking at the two children in front of her, Karen wanted to groan in frustration. Why couldn't these two get along for more than five minutes without fighting? Deep down, she knew the answer. They were just too much alike. It had all started when the two had begun arguing over a Barbie that they had both wanted to play with. The toy itself did in fact belong to Tiffany, but Jessica refused to give the doll back. Even going so far as to bite her cousin's hand when she tried to take it back. That had been what truly started the whole mess. For right after that first bite, the two little girls were rolling on the floor, biting, hitting and pulling each other's hair. The Barbie long forgotten as the girls' main focus was beating each other up. This always seemed to happen, they would be fine one minute and then fighting the next._

 _But this time it had been different, the two had thrown accidental magic at one another will rolling on the carpet. Jessica was currently purple; will Tiffany was sporting a pair of floppy black dog ears on her head. Which made her look like their dog Pepper, who would sleep at the foot of Tiffany's bed every night. Pepper was a black lab that Karen's husband had rescued from an abusive owner that would kick the poor puppy constantly for having accidents in the house, even though it wasn't yep house broken and he refused to let the dog outside to go potty in the first place._

 _Looking at the dog ears on her daughters head, Karen couldn't help but think of the beautiful dog that had become an irreplaceable part of the family along with their two other dogs, Shain and Tigger. Shain being a very large black dog that looked just like Pepper, and Tigger being a tiny grey and brown dog that was half Chihuahua, and half terrier. Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Karen focused once more in the two girls in front of them. Karen could see bite marks as well as a few small bruises here and there. She really didn't feel like dealing with this right now. It hadn't been easy pulling the tiny eight year olds off each other. They were both small for their age, but that never stopped them from getting into a big fight with one another._

" _What have I told you about fighting; I can't believe you two got so out of control over a toy." Tiffany's hazel eyes, which were just like her own, were fixed on the carpet in front of her. She refused to look her mom in the eyes. One only had to look at the brown haired girl to see the guilt on her face. She knew she shouldn't have gotten into a fight with her cousin and she felt bad for it. Jessica on the other hand had her arms folded defensively over her chest. Her head turned to the side, glaring at the wall of the play room they were currently in._

 _Tiffany had responded with an 'I'm sorry' will Jessica refused to say anything. Karen sighed, more to herself than anything, then put the two girls in different corners. Jessica on one side of the room and Tiffany on the other. Having already turned them back to normal of course. Picking up the forgotten Barbie doll, Karen looked at the backs of the two sulking eight year olds. "You can leave the corner when Grandma and Brenda get back from the store. Tiffany, can have your Barbie back when we go home tomorrow." Karen then left the room and placed the Barbie in her bag._

 _~3~_

The next morning, Tiffany woke up in her four poster bed. Yawning and stretching as she sat up, the 11 year old Slytherin threw her short legs over the side of the bed, her feet not touching the floor. The worm and comfortable blankets had already been pushed aside as she had gotten up. Once up, Tiffany quickly made her bed and changed into her black school robes, safely securing her plushy back into her trunk. Almost everyone else had already left for breakfast, so the Slytherin common room was quiet and empty. With her dark brown hair brushed and tied back into a low ponytail, it was no longer in a braid; Tiffany exited the common room and hurried out of the dungeons and to breakfast. Once in the great hall, Tiffany walks over to Holly, who was sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table.

The said blonde was currently eating scrambled eggs and sausage. Without hesitation, Tiffany sat down next to her best friend at the Ravenclaw table. This got her a few stares from those nearby, but most people were too busy eating to care.

"Hey Holly, I can't believe we just spent our first night as Hogwarts students." Holly swallowed the food in her mouth and grinned. "I know right, I can't wait for classes to start. I'm so excited." Tiffany just grunted at that. The thought of starting classes didn't seem all that exciting to her, but she couldn't help but smile at the look on her BFF's face. Grabbing a slice of bacon, Tiffany fixed herself a plate with eggs, bacon, and buttered toast. Tiffany was amazed when the owls flew into the great hall, dropping letters and packages to students. The brown haired girl didn't expect anything, but was surprised when she saw her mom's owl drop a small package in her lap. Opening the package, Tiffany wasn't prepared for what she saw. She went red in the face when she pulled out her potions textbook, along with a letter in her mom's handwriting that said, 'You're lucky I found this on your desk when I got home.'

The eleven year old Slytherin was shocked beyond words. She could have sworn that she had packed that book, and yet her it was being sent to her by her mom. Tiffany was both embarrass and relieved. She didn't know what she would have done, if she had had to show up to class without her textbook. The sound of snickering pulled her out of her thoughts. The nearby Ravenclaws had seen her pull out her potions book and had found it funny. Tiffany would have found it funny to, if it wasn't her. "How could you possibly forget that?" Holly asked, her eyes fixed to the book in her best friend's hands. Tiffany simply responded honestly, "I have no idea." Tiffany then quickly put the book in her bag. If Tiffany had looked at the teachers table at the front of the great hall, she would have seen a certain potions teacher looking her way with a very unimpressed look on his face.

The two besties chat for the rest of breakfast. Once it was time for class they went their separate ways to class. It was during her first day that Tiffany discovered that the staircases of Hogwarts were evil. It was horrible; there were so many stairs that she was almost late to her first class. Not to mention that every time a staircase moved with her on it, Tiffany would completely freak out and cling to the railing for dear life. She couldn't help it that she panicked every time she felt like she was going fall. She wasn't afraid of heights, just falling. There's a difference. Just being high up didn't bother her, it was only when she felt the ground unstable underneath her or when she just knew she was going to fall, even if she was only a foot off of the ground that she would completely freak out. She couldn't help it, that's just how she's always been.

Herbology Tiffany found herself standing between Xander, the boy she met during the sorting, and a sandy-blonde girl whose name Tiffany didn't know. Jessica was standing at another table, so she didn't see her. There teacher for Herbology is Professor Sprout, a small witch whose name really seemed to fit with plants. The irony wasn't lost on Tiffany. Not fare down from where she was standing, was the pale blonde boy that she had seen her first day at Hogwarts. By now, she knew that his name was Draco and he looked just as smug as he had when walking over to the Slytherin table. A part of her knew that he was going to be a pain in the butt, so she decided that she was going to try to ovoid him. Best to avoid the problem all together. The class had gone well; they had started learning the names of different plants and fungi, and what environments they came from. She recognized a few from her sister's textbooks, which she might or might not have looked at over the holidays without there promotion when she was younger. It wasn't the most exciting class, but it seemed to be kind of fun for now.

Most classes were just introduction and explaining what they would be learning that year. History of magic was taught by a ghost, which had been the only interesting thing about that class. Which had been a letdown for Tiffany, who had hoped that a ghost teacher would be fun. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.

During charms, Tiffany couldn't believe how tinny Professor Flitwick was. The man had to stand on a pile of books just to see over his desk. It was crazy. She could hear snickering form several places, which she knew was at the ridiculously small professor. Professor Flitwick either didn't hear it or just ignored it, for he didn't say anything about it. After roll call, the small man started his introduction.

It was in professor McGonagall's class, when things got interesting. She taught Transfigurations, and Tiffany could already tell that she was going to be a strict teacher. During her introduction, Professor McGonagall made it very clear that she wasn't going to put up with playing around. Which Tiffany was fine with, she had always behaved in class. After taking notes, the class was given the assignment of trying to change toothpicks into needles. Sadly she wasn't able to make any difference to the toothpick, but knowing that no one else in the class had been able to either as well made her feel a little better. Despite not having been able to make any change happen, it had still been a fun class day. Hopefully she would get better in the future.

When it was time for lunch, Tiffany walked to the great hall with Xander. He had been in all of her classes so far, so Tiffany was starting to get to know him better. Which was good because she wasn't so nervous around him anymore. Tiffany wasn't good around people she doesn't know. Tiffany stopped at the Ravenclaw table to chat with Holly for a minute then walked over to the Slytherin table to sit by Xander. He wasn't much of a talker either, so they had that much in common. It was when she sat down that she heard someone say, "Look who's sitting with us this time. Don't you want to sit with your Ravenclaw friend like you did this morning?" Tiffany looked up to see who had spoken and saw Draco looking her way. Unimpressed by his attempt to rile her up, Tiffany grabbed a plate and replied with. "Not really, I wanted to sit next to Xander." That seemed to have suppressed Xander for his face got a little pink as he went back to fixing his plate. Draco must have noticed Xander's odd reaction because then said, "Why, is he your boyfriend or something?" Xander choked on the food in his mouth and had to pound his chest to get the food to go down. The sound of snickering from those close by was heard. Tiffany looked back at the pale blonde eleven year old. "Considering we just met, that would be weird."

Then a thought crossed her mind. A smile crossed Tiffany's face as she quickly added in a playful voice, "Why do you care, are you jealous." I slid a little closer to Xander as I said the last part. Everyone sitting nearby started laughing. An angry blush flashed across Draco's pale skin and he looked away. This was clearly not how he wanted this conversation to go, and was mad that it had backfired on him. When lunch ended, Tiffany and Xander headed to their next class together.

~3~

There's chapter 3. I hoped you like it and will leave a review so I know what to improve on. Like you noticed in the last chapter, I started with a flash back. The chapters will start with a flash back from when Tiffany was little. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day.

Later.


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